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It’s been seven years now that Omar Balafrej has been running
Technopark, and over that period, he has seen his share of Moroccan
startups… We sat down with him for a Q&A on the challenges
being met by Morocccan startups and the best way to tackle
them.

Wamda: We hear a lot about the lack of funding in
Morocco, is this really such a big problem?

Omar Balafrej: We’ve reached a certain
level of access to funding; it’s not perfect, but startups can find
funding now.

There are a few business angels - even if they don’t publicize
it - such as Mourad Mekouar who invested in Greendizer and
Livremoi, with Maroc Numeric
Fund (MNF) [Editor’s note: this is the $12m USD VC fund
created by the Moroccan government and banks, in which Technopark
is a shareholder].

There is Réseau Entreprendre, a really nice association. It
helps young entrepreneurs get the mentoring and coaching they need,
gives away some funding ($10,000 per entrepreneur, which is not
that bad when you’re starting). More importantly, each entrepreneur
gets a mentor that helps them, and opens doors that could get them
their first contracts.

Wamda: If the lack of VCs due to a lack of promising,
innovative startups?

Balafrej: There are a lot of funds
investing in more mature structures with tickets starting at $3m
USD, but, except for MNF, there are no funds for startups. And yet,
there is room for three MNFs in Morocco. The dealflow is
there; there are companies worth investing in. At MNF, we
receive a lot of great applications but we don’t have the capacity
to manage more than three to four investments per year.

MNF’s first goal was to show that there was dealflow in Morocco.
This is done. There are good projects, and they’re getting
increasingly good, so, dear VC, join us!

Wamda: So, if funding is not the problem, what’s
stopping startups?

Balafrej: We’re still having trouble when
it comes to access to markets. We haven’t managed to convince the
government and corporations that working with startups is mutually
beneficial. We need to work on this. If we get this done, I’m sure
we’ll have many more success stories, which could then turn to
export. This is something else we have to work on. Recently, the
UAE limited the possibility for Moroccans under 40 to get visas. We
need to lobby to ease exporation.

Wamda: Is there a model of growth that works better than
others in Morocco?

Balafrej: There’s no one size fits all,
but from what I’ve seen up until now, the most beautiful success
stories come from entrepreneurs who’ve had two activities: one that
creates revenues from less risky jobs, such as service and
integration, and another that is an innovation. They
let their innovative idea mature, and develop it when timing and
environment are right.

Now, when the idea is really good and matches a need, you need
to go for it. You can be sure to find dozens of support
organizations in Morocco to help with getting started
and funding.

Wamda: Do you need to have reach a certain age to
succeed, as some believe?

Balafrej: The entrepreneur needs to have a
certain maturity, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do with age. A
good example of that is Adam Bouhedma, from Education Media
Company, who started his company at 17 [Editors note: he just
raised $280,000 USD from MNF]. Some people are naturally more
mature than others. For me, some of the qualities an entrepreneur
must have are being down to earth, and knowing how to manage money,
recruit, and lead a team.

Often, the best profile is an entrepreneur who failed at least
one, who took a job at a company, saw what the corporate world was
for a few years, and started building a company again.

Wamda: Not easy to find! Why don’t we see more of those
unicorns?

Balafrej: We live in a society that
doesn’t accept failure, even if failure is part of the
entrepreneurship journey. We need to learn to learn from failure.
Personally, one of my best professional experiences was a failure.
It was a company I helped build in the early 2000s, called MENA
Business. I worked on it for a year, but it was worth five or six
years of professional experience. This got me to think about a lot
of things.

This might sound weird, but I encourage people to fail. You need
to fail and start again.

Balafrej: First off, they haven’t all
failed, far from it. Take the
daily deal websites: Superdeal and Hmizate
are still there. It’s important to notice that those who succeed
are not often willing to speak out and are not that visible.

At MNF, some of our first investments failed but others are
really promising, such as Epicerie.ma, Meolink, and Virtual
Building Solutions. Recently, we’ve invested in Education Media
Company, a leader in online education with websites like 9rayti,
Concourate, etc.

I’m personally really optimistic for the future of Moroccan
startups.

Technopark is a workplace dedicated to new technology (ICT,
green tech and cultural industries). 230 companies are working
there, 50 join every year. Technopark is also the place where the
biggest support organisations are based, from Startup Maroc, REM,
CJD, the AFEM and its incubators, Maroc Numeric Cluster to Maroc
Numeric Fund, the CMI and soon Jokkolabs’s coworking space.

Aline is startup storyteller and journalist. Previously she was Wamda's French editor and an entrepreneur, opening The Blue House residence for international startups in a Moroccan surf town. You can follow her on Twitter @YallahAline.